Starting Bids for 'Wedding Bed'
Could Purchase a Nice House

Updated Sept. 13, 1996 12:01 a.m. ET

In the cosseted, closeted lives of the wives of 17th-century Chinese aristocrats, the bed served as living room, entertainment area and sleeping alcove.

This rare six-poster platform day bed dates from the mid-1600s. Called a "wedding bed," it was probably given to the bride of a wealthy government official or scholar as a wedding gift from her husband's family. The lady of the house would have enclosed the bed in silk...